Friday, July 04, 2008

Inspirational 21st Century Generation Journalists

They come and go, a train stop on their journey through their burgeoning careers, and often quite often they possess that gene of "Pass it on".

As a journalism lecturer, you've seen them, indeed many, and quite often they inspire you back. And whilst many slot into jobs we're familiar with, they possess skills and the right attitude to boot that equip them for 21st Century Journalism.

Why do we read or track the progress of people whose milestones or ambitions appear different to our own? Not the celebrities per se, but those starting out.

We do it all the time, but not enough in journalism.

The inverted triangle for writing often insidiously percolates into how we treat others. It shouldn't as anyone who's ever come into contact with Skys former news boss, Nick Pollard will tell you. The cleaners are ushered into newsroom meetings to see if they have something to offer.

Why do we follow the career of others?

For me because I do like to be inspired; I do like to know how others scaled their own heights; I do like to know if there's anything I can take from them, irrespective of age, colour and creed, that makes me a better person.

In this post I have mentioned Dionne, now reporting from LA for Sky; Tamer now a correspondent in Gaza; David Heathfield with Nato as a VJ - all of whom have something to pass on and have indeed done so.

There are countless others.

But one thing's certain, ambitions, dreams can and will come true.

If you want it you'll create your own luck. If you want it and possess the pre-requisite skills then what a journey must lay ahead of you in this fascinating period in journalism.

So today I'd like to introduce you to Noemi Hernández who has become a fixture on her local television in Spain.

A student from last year, Noemi had prior experience, but wanted to raise her game.

Friends and lecturers that know her are thrilled to bits for her success and we're pretty sure her journey has only just begun.

She has much she can inspire others seeking to hear from the generation bridging traditional with the new, old skool with the new citadel as you can read from her comments to questions I had earmarked for my talk at the World Association of Newspapers

news anchor Noemi

Why do you want to become a journalist?

"I don't remember when I decided to be a journalist. I don't think I ever dreamt of being a nurse or a teacher, as any other girl. I have got pictures of me talking to a B radio that my father had in his car when I was 15 months and I was able to speak already.

If I had to blame on someone, my mom could be responsible. She was a passionate radio listener who used to say how much she admired some of the journalists she listened to; they were those mentors she didn't have. She always say: All I know, I learned it fromthe radio."

Do you think it's changed much from what you might have read about or seen growing up and in the last few years

"I don't think so. The ultimate aim is to put the world closer to people's eyes as journalists in Fleet St did, George Orwell or Ryszard Kapuściński taught us.

Nowadays we've got technology and a big range of media where to tell stories, and it has brought a new journalism, faster, based on immediacy and the power of the image, because of that, probably, often, less accurate and less deep and more aggressive, because the media is trying to capture, hold onto, a bigger number of people, but still doing the same thing."

Do you think its priorities have changed what are the qualities you think you need to become a journalist?

I understand that one of our challenges is to be ready to manage all what is necessary to attract new generation's attention towards journalism. Those who think that the truth is in wikipedia or youtube.

We are living in a visual/virtual society. People want to see it and have no time to chew it so, using the tools we've got and they want, we have to tell them what's going on and do it well.

Pens or a 35mm camera don't create a journalist. Innate curiosity, feeling hungry for knowledge, for knowing something and, at the same time, possessing the need to understand why things happen.

Also that same need for informing people; being able to distinguish what needs to be told and what is junk news; free of fear and being willing to get your hands dirty if it's necessary, and being a people's person are some of the qualities, I think,we need.

Then, there are skills we have to develop, for instance, being up to date using new soft wares and all the new tools emerging that make us more and more self-sufficient".

If there's one thing you know now that you wished you knew starting off what would it be?

One of the things I appreciate I have learnt as a journalist is how valuable people are. How important listening is, and I mean very carefully and keeping in mind that those we meet, talk to, interact with are the beginning and the end of each story.

We work for them and they are our news. Knowing that, every day at work I try to base all I do with around this with the utmost respect for the audience."

Channel 4's Jon Snow comments on David work as "original".

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A life-changing tutor and mentor - who ABSOLUTELY changed the world of video for my group of new VJs. His work is as inspiring as his teaching methods, and constantly challenging the best way to achieve results. His website and blog and compelling, must-follow sites for anyone working with video or multimedia on the web.

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